James before ‘the mother of all battles’: Derby in Greece

The first classic is coming for James Rodríguez in Greek football. After finishing his participation in the current edition of the Europa League (eliminated in the group stage as he was bottom of his area without victories), a tournament in which the ’10’ did not play because he was not registered, Olympiacos visits the leader of the Greek Super League.

The team led by Míchel will face Panathinaikos at the Apóstolos Nikolaidis Stadium in Athens this Sunday, November 6 at 12:30 pm (Colombian time) for the eleventh day of the local championship, in one of the most passionate and violent derbies historically worldwide.

‘The mother of all battles’, one of the most passionate derbies

This classic is known as ‘The mother of all battles’ or the ‘Derby of the eternal enemies’, arising from social and cultural differences. Panathinaikos, founded in 1908, was related to the upper class of Athens, while Olympiacos, which was born in 1925, is from Piraeus, which served as the port of the Greek capital, so it was linked to the working class.

Nevertheless, these marked differences in terms of social have been reduced over time due to the development of Greece, which has it as a member of the European Union, so both clubs encompass members of different social classes today.

A quite passionate confrontation that has crossed the limits on multiple occasions leading to disputes and violent acts that have led to the suspension of classicthe Greek tournament and even other sports disciplines, since the rivalry and this type of events have transcended sports such as basketball and volleyball.

To stop the leader of Greek football

Olympiacos did not start the season well, so there was a change of coach. Míchel arrived in place of his compatriot Carlos Corberan andwith the help of James, have improved locallyobtaining positive results that have the team in the third place in the championship with 20 points in 10 disputed days.

The objective in this classic will be to stop Panathinaikos, the leader of Greek football with a perfect score: 30 out of 30, the highest scorer with 20 goals in favor and the one with the fewest goals conceded with only 3 goals.

In addition, Olympiacos wants to put an end to a bad streak against this rival, as it has gone four direct confrontations without beating them with a balance of two draws and two losses. The last win in this classic was 1-4 in May 2021 with doublets from Masouras and El-Arabi. Mauricio discounted for the premises.